Mr. Jaafari spoke Tuesday in Baghdad as negotiators scrambled to reach agreement on key points left unresolved in the draft presented to parliament late Monday. Lawmakers have extended the deadline for parliamentary approval to Thursday.

Officials say issues of federalism and the division of authority between the presidency and parliament remain unresolved.

Majority Shi'ites and the Kurds are seeking a decentralized government that allows significant regional autonomy in the Kurdish north and Shi'ite southern Iraq.

Sunnis, who have not signed off on the draft, want a centralized government seen as protecting their minority interests in central Iraq.